


Snow White

by Silver Blues (Andreinightleaf)



Category: Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, Rockman.EXE | Mega Man Battle Network
Genre: But still who needs traditional romance when by being close you can still have all the nice things, Closeness Stuff, Cold, Episode "rewrite", I'm not telling relationships for now, It's not Raika/Pride at least yet tho bc they just met, Other, Snow, Wounds and Pain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-07 10:46:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11621934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andreinightleaf/pseuds/Silver%20Blues
Summary: Biting, sinking cold was never the worst thing.





	Snow White

**Author's Note:**

> [This follows the episode closely, and thus it is kind of AU-ish related to my universe and other works. This is when Raika and Pride first meet in the anime, for example, but that's not how it happens in my universe. Soo enjoy different element thingies??]

   Biting, sinking cold was never the worst thing.

   Raika regarded the snow, the gelid air, as an old friend. No longer could it pass as a unique wonder or a nuisance; it simply _was_. Akin to the rain, blameless; no one controlled it. And such were the vast expanses of ivory landscapes, the freezing temperatures of Sharo. A natural routine to be dealt with, same as eating and voiding. Not something he was even capable of being vexed at, by this point.

   Standing against the weather adversity, a mountain perched reasonably before violent winds, was easy. _Anything_ added on top of it, however, was most definitely not. And the blizzard felt so much fiercer, ghostly pushing him back, when he could barely take any steps forward.

   The princess had long found her way in front of him, also used to snow, and not majorly harmed. She seemed to be looking around, checking in with KnightMan every now and then, as if to pinpoint their exact location. The Sharon was practically unable to even think about anything along those lines; his senses were filled with pain, the weakness in turn augmenting the cold he felt, and most of what his mind could muster was _keep walking. Keep trying. Do not slow her down._

   Faintly, a tender warmth against his breast, he could feel the comforting pulse of Search’s core through cyberwaves. It was a solution—it had always been, to have Search by his touching side. Helping him in this state of near-helplessness. Yet, the reveal was not something he desired risking; as much as the Creamlander had proved herself to be a kind, thoughtful and intuitive ruler, there was just too much at stake. He hadn’t seen enough of her to be completely sure. If someone of her stature were to find out about Navis’ abilities to manifest in their plane—only two hands, but if they happened to be the wrong ones, it would all be over.

   He hated it, to have to worry his drakama like this. However, nothing of that calibre was even comparable to the thought of losing him, or the fate of the world if such information was found out. If only he could kn—

   A mixture between a gasp and a long moan of pain, and it took a few moments for Raika to realize that _he_ had been the one to emit that sound, and currently found himself crouched, clutching his bandaged, wounded leg. He was shaking violently, and either it had only half to do with the cold, or the latter possessed negligible effects entirely. The agony was _intense_ —how long had it been since he’d sprained a muscle, or broken his leg? Search’s worry resounded within him, and at the same time, there were gloved hands on his shoulders, a voice trying to reach him above the wind.

   Spasms rode up his injured limb, and he simply clutched at the wrapped section harder, trying to apply pressure, _anything_ , that could distract him from the pain. And long moments were spent simply holding on through stronger pangs, until there was a window of relative focus, and with it came the awareness of pale blond hair and white fluff on his face. Pride was embracing him—or as close to embracing as one could muster in their position—, and keeping his head on her shoulder, her neck, the NetSaviour’s sapphire eyes and dark eyelashes humid from tears. Everything felt both freezing and burning and _hell, any issue out in the open in wintry lands could be fatal._ The difference was enormous. And his throat moved, breath shaky, small, weak sounds spilling from his lips. He isn’t supposed to slow her down. He wasn’t.

   “Raika.” Pride tried again, and it was now much easier to hear, with her mouth so close to his ear, his suffering having lessened some from the previous minutes. “There should be a castle nearby. Just stay with me a little longer, okay?”

   His leg screamed at the thought of walking more. It forced a quake through his form, and the woman simply held him tighter, though at the same time allowing more space between their heads, so she was able to gaze intently into his eyes. Gems so pure, yet so difficult to locate their characteristic shine. The hardness had mellowed some with pain, but still… what intricate depths. There were sparks flickering beyond the opaqueness in the surface, and though the royal was unable to understand the great majority of it all, she nonetheless became enraptured by them. A man of so many secrets, holding himself in depths not even the adventurous diver would dare scrape…

   She only snapped back to reality after he turned his head, voice strained as he choked out, “D—don’t worry about me; g-go on ahead.” And before she could open her mouth, her eyes wide, his own had squeezed shut. “With my leg in this condition, I’d… only slow you down, Y-Your Highness.”

   And Raika hated being a weight, having someone’s life endangered because of him. Causing stress by worry. It was one of countless reasons he did not possess many companions; a NetSaviour warrior such as he was not the best option to stay around. The thought of others freely kidnapping and threatening loved ones to get to him… he couldn’t really handle it. His life was a war zone, where civilians hardly belonged. Commander Yasha was not a civilian, nor Enzan, nor Lan. Nor Search. Yet Morozov…

   With the roaring blizzard, Pride’s small huff of a sigh went unnoticed, and regardless, she smiled. “It’s Pride.” Her locks tumbled as she moved away some more, arms slipping from around the other to instead gently pry his hands from his leg. The resulting hiss tugged at her heartstrings, but did not slow her, as she tipped his upper body backwards some, as if to try and lay him on the sea of white. His questioning noise was not answered vocally; a forearm wrapped around his back, then another on the back of his thighs, and suddenly, he was lifted into the air.

   _This wasn’t what he had planned at all._ The soreness in his stiff muscles responded every which way, and he found himself grasping tightly onto the fabric of her brown coat as she adjusted her grip on him (a gesture not at all painless). He would have protested beyond a gasp, he would have done _something_ , but the relief on his injured leg was an oasis, and the same wound would make escaping her grasp a more daunting task.

   “If I remember well, the castle is close by. It will be quick, I promise.”

   Perhaps Raika was surrendering even further to weakness, yet the warm huddle of Pride’s bust, and the serene, familiar thrum of Search’s core against his breast, made him feel like not resisting anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> [This work can stand alone by itself, but I do want to write them in the castle as well, so I guess the rest of the slightly separated things come as proceeding chapters.
> 
> I'm very grateful to Inu for inspiring me so much about Raika and loving him too, and encouraging me to write more <3 ]


End file.
